1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for stacking a predetermined number of elongated tape-like articles, such as slide fasteners, in a stack ready to be bundled with a band or to be packed in a box.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,610,124, issued Sept. 9, 1986, and 4,570,422, issued Feb. 18, 1986, respectively disclose a method of and an apparatus for automatically bundling slide fasteners. In the prior art, finished slide fasteners discharged from a slide fastener finishing machine at regular time intervals are successively conveyed to a position above a bundling station and then fall on a tray in the bundling station. When the number of the slide fasteners thus stacked on the tray reaches a predetermined value, such a stack of the slide fasteners is bundled with a band and is then removed from the tray. The bundling and removing of each stack of the slide fasteners must be finished by the time a succeeding slide fastener falls on the tray. Practically, however, since the bundling and removing operation is slow, the subsequent discharging of the finished slide fasteners must be retarded or temporarily discontinued in order to be timed with the bundling and removing operation, which is laborious, thus causing only a limited rate of production. Another problem with the prior art is that the pile of the finished slide fasteners tends to become disorderly as the pile progressively grows.